Picture Book Reviews!

Posted on October 1, 2020 at 9:55 am by

Butts Are Everywhere by by Jonathan Stutzman, pictures by Heather Fox. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2020. 9780525514510. 32pp.

Tired of poop books getting so much attention? Need to help the butt obsessed child in your life build their vocabulary? This is the book for you. Adorable illustrations! Fox also illustrated the amazing Llama Destroys the World.

 

 

Scaredy Snacks by Terry Border. Philomel Books, 2020. 32pp.

On cleaning day, Sprinkles and her friends go to welcome Dr. Nuttenstein to the neighborhood. After they watch him bring a “monstrous” cookie to life, they get a little freaked out.

Border creates the characters and props mostly from common household items (including snacks, of course). They’re hilarious and sure to inspire art projects.

 

Julia’s House Moves On by Ben Hatke. First Second, 2020. 9781250191373. 40pp.

So many lost creatures live at Julia’s house, but it’s time to move on. And Julia has plans, as she always does. Which is great because as things go wrong, she’s going to need them all. But what will happen when her plans aren’t enough?

Ben Hatke’s drawings are always wondrous, and every creature in this book wowed me from the goblins to the trolls to the ghost and robots and all the amazing sea creatures! Note: It’s a sequel to Julia’s House for Lost Creatures.

 

Window by Marion Arbona. Kids Can Press, 2020. 9781525301360. 32pp.

A girl walks home from school, looking up at the windows she passes. The pages with the windows unfold to show incredibly detailed scenes of what’s going on behind each: lush jungles, bath time with whales, vampires flying with their bats, gnomes having a contest, and more. It’s surprising, a little insane, and really cool. My favorite is room full of masks where a crazy looking guy is having tea with his dog. You may prefer the room full of books. (At the end the girl makes it home and we get to see her room, too.) All drawn with glorious, highly detailed, old school black ink.

Tags No Comments - Read More

Easy Reader Review: If You Love (activity) You Could Be…

Posted on September 29, 2020 at 10:32 am by

 

 

 

 

 

If You Love Cooking You Could Be… (Ready To Read Level 2) by Elizabeth Dennis, Illustrated by Natalie Kwee. Simon Spotlight, 2019. 9781534454545. 32pp.

If You Love Dolphins You Could Be… (Ready To Read Level 2) by May Nakamura, Illustrated by Natalie Kwee. Simon Spotlight, 2019. 9781534444690. 32pp.

If You Love Video Games You Could Be… (Ready To Read Level 2) by Thea Feldman, Illustrated by Natalie Kwee. Simon Spotlight, 2019. 9781534443990. 32pp.

If You Love Fashion You Could Be…. (Ready To Read Level 2) by May Nakamura, Illustrated by Natalie Kwee. Simon Spotlight, 2019. 9781534448773. 32pp.

Each of these easy readers goes into a bit of detail about three careers, and has a list of more cool jobs at the back. The stars of each are Kwee’s happy, simple drawings. Everyone is smiling, and it feels like every little thing she draws is, too.

The book full of dolphin love is probably my favorite of the four — it has a subtle, pro-environmental message as it contains details about being an aquatic veterinarian, marine biologist, and underwater filmmaker. (The other careers mentioned briefly at the end are oceanographer, aquarium curator, underwater archaeologist, environmental lawyer, and environmental social scientist.)

In 2020, it’s hard to argue that it’s ever too early for kids to start thinking about a career and a couple of fallbacks.

Worth noting: the next books in the series are If You Love Robots.., and If You Love Books…. — I hope librarians made the cut in the latter.

Tags No Comments - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne

Posted on September 24, 2020 at 9:47 am by

Beetle & the Hollowbones by Aliza Layne. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2020. 9781534441538. 256pp.

Beetle loves hanging out at the mall with her friend Blob Ghost, which is good because BG can’t leave the mall. Beetle’s grandma keeps trying to teach her goblin magic, but Beetle doesn’t think potions are real magic. Her friend Kat has just come back to town to apprentice with her aunt, Marla Hollowbone. Kat’s having the kind of success with magic that Beetle believes she can only dream of, but it’s Kat’s life that’s the nightmare — Kat’s aunt is a seriously nasty piece of work, and that nastiness goes wide when she tries to force Beetle’s Gran out of her job and to destroy the mall where BG lives. Beetle has to save BG by finding a way for him to escape the mall before he’s buried in the rubble, and to save her friend Kat from her aunt, too.

This is a beautiful little book about friendship with (what I assume is) superb digital art. The whole thing is just wonderful, and a great read-alike for Molly Ostertag’s Witch Boy graphic novels. Worth noting: Layne is the creator of the all-ages webcomic Demon Street. http://www.demonstreet.co/about

 

Tags No Comments - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: The Book Tour by Andi Watson

Posted on September 22, 2020 at 10:54 am by

The Book Tour by Andi Watson. Top Shelf, 2020. 9781603094795. 270pp.

British author G.H. Fretwell is on a tour to promote his new novel, Without K, and nothing is going right. Someone has stolen his suitcase, and no one is buying any of his books. After a night alone in his hotel room he’s questioned by two policemen about a missing bookstore clerk because he was the last person to see her. He find himself the center of a criminal investigation as his “book signings” get stranger and his accommodations seedier. What is the mystery’s relationship to the book Fretwell wrote? Why does everyone think he’s guilty? And why hasn’t a review of his book appeared in the newspaper? It is, as you may have suspected, very Kafkaesque.

Watson is one of my favorite artists, and the way he uses a 12-panel grid for layout in this book is masterful. It’s clear he had as much fun drawing the bookshops as he did the streets and alleys. This is a surreal, fun bit of bookish anxiety.

Tags No Comments - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: Undiscovered Country Volume 1: Destiny.

Posted on September 17, 2020 at 9:43 am by

Undiscovered Country Volume 1: Destiny written by Scott Snyder and Charles Soule, layouts by Guiseppe Camuncoli, finishes by Daniele Orlandini and Leonardo Marcello Grassi, colored by Matt Wilson, lettered by Crank! Image, 2020. 9781534315990. Includes Undiscovered Country #1 – #6. Publisher’s Rating: M / Mature.

Thirty years ago the United States walled itself off from the rest world. No one knows what’s happened within its borders.

Outside the US, the world is a war-torn wreck in the midst of a global pandemic, and it has about six months left. But a message has come through from the US — there’s a cure for the sky virus, and they’re willing to negotiate its release. And they may even consider reopening the borders.

On the team headed into the US are an epidemiologist, a wanted mercenary, a journalist, and a few diplomats. Each has their own agenda. And what they find, shortly after a very rough landing, is not at all what they expect. (Imagine the world of Mad Max crossed with parts of Mortal Engines and Westworld, and you’ll be kinda close.)

This graphic novel is the best kind of batshit crazy, and a much-needed escape with a fair bit of social commentary thrown in. Ever had a nightmare about a carnivorous bison? This is your book.

Tags No Comments - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: Days by Simon Moreton

Posted on September 15, 2020 at 10:42 am by

Days by Simon Moreton. Avery Hill, 2014. 9871910395004. 148pp.

The minimalistic art in Days includes stories from Moreton’s autobiographical SMOO and anthology work. Style-wise it looks to have been drawn with pencils and most of the book falls somewhere between the work of John Porcellino (King-Cat, Thoreau at Walden) and Oliver East (Trains Are…Mint). The first story in the book astounded me — it’s about the town of Marlow, where Moreton moved when he was 11. Quick scribbles seem to capture the town mostly by noting its shadows. It ends with a meditation on aging and a drawing of an older guy in a pool that’s probably my favorite image in the book, though there’s a lot more to love: simple (but more detailed) drawings of houses, the birds of Falmouth, and simple drawings of people that capture so much of their character. I’m going to read every book and minicomic by Moreton that I can find.

No idea how this British graphic novel from 2014 ended up on the shelves at Seattle’s Kinokuniya, but I want to send out some love to whoever is buying all of the indy books for that section of the store. If you’re in town and love comics, I want to tell you it’s not just manga and toys upstairs.

 

Tags No Comments - Read More

Book Review: When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey

Posted on September 10, 2020 at 12:21 pm by

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey. Simon Pulse, 2020. 9781534432871. 342pp plus acknowledgements.

Here’s what you need to know to decide whether or not to try this book: in the opening pages, post-prom, Alexis just tried to lose her virginity to Josh in his bedroom. Things didn’t go as planned. His dick exploded when she was putting the condom on him, and Josh is dead. Josh was sweet and kind, but Alexis’ magic got out of control somehow. Now her five friends, who are also magic, are going to help her dispose of the body. Alexis is going to have to deal with who she is, what she did, and the cop who’s interviewing everyone in school.

This is a YA novel about friendship and learning who you are (with a dash of romance). Gailey also wrote River of Teeth along with other stories featuring hippos in the 19th century U.S., and Magic for Liars, in which a mundane detective investigates a murder at the school for magic where her sister works. I’ve read everything they’ve written and I want more.

I handed this over to my daughter immediately after finishing it — selected reading from the opening chapter made us both laugh.

Tags No Comments - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: Cook Korean! + All American Girl by Robin Ha

Posted on September 8, 2020 at 10:53 am by

Cook Korean! A Comic Book With Recipes by Robin Ha. Ten Speed Press, 2016. 175pp including an index. 9781607748878. 176pp.

The hanbok wearing Dengki teaches us how to cook (because Ha is busy drawing comics). There’s a guide to Korean ingredients and meals, including different kinds of rice and rice by-products — you’ll probably love nurungji — before Dengki shows us how to make rice perfectly, even in a nonstick pot on the stove. The chapter on kimchi includes easy and advanced recipes, not all of which are spicy and/or fishy. (I’m going to make the “square-cut kimchi gazpacho” (nabak kimchi) soon — it fits with my new heart healthy diet._ The section on vegetable side dishes includes one I love, acorn jelly, which is tasty but nearly impossible to describe. (Ha illustrates a mishap when making it, when she accidentally makes acorn rocks.) If veggies aren’t your thing there’s a huge section on making different kinds of Korean barbecue, including the green onion salad that’s usually served with it. There are also soups, stews, porridges, and snacks like the easy to make brown sugar pancakes (hotteok) and even kimchi pancakes (don’t put syrup on these).

The cookbook hints at her relationship with her mother and her childhood, which is why it was great to read her new book:

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha. Balzer + Bray, 2020. 233pp including a glossary and great acknowledgements pages, especially when she talks about her mom. 9780062685094. 240pp.

During a middle school vacation in 1995, Ha and her mother took a trip to Alabama to visit her mother’s friend Mr. Kim. After a few weeks in his house she told her daughter that they were staying, and that she and Mr. Kim were getting married. Alone, unable to speak English, and an outsider in a family with other kids her age, Ha had none of the comics she loved (they were all still back in South Korea) and no chance to stay goodbye to her friends. Her journey to becoming Korean American included a lot of abuse at the hands of racist school bullies. (Minor spoiler: she does eventually stand up for herself and find a teacher who cares.) At first Ha sees her mom as a bit of a tyrant who makes all of the decisions, but as she gets older her view changes. Raising a child born out of wedlock in Korea wasn’t easy, and her mom became a very successful businesswoman despite the obstacles she faced. Ha eventually looks back on her life in Korea and realizes it wasn’t perfect — she had to hide the fact that she had no father, and her family situation led to at least one teacher abusing her.
d
This is a very balanced story of two strong women that reminds me a lot of the difficulties my wife had to navigate in South Korea as a strong willed, take-no-bullshit woman. And comics are at the center of it all for Ha! It’s got everything I could ask for, including references to old 90s K-Pop. This book belongs in all middle and high school libraries.

You can find other recipes and art by Robin Ha by going back a bit in her blog, Banchan in Two Pages  (“banchan” means side dishes)

Tags No Comments - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: Animorphs Graphic Novel #1: The Invasion

Posted on September 3, 2020 at 9:33 am by

Animorphs Graphic Novel #1: The Invasion by K.A. Applegate & Michael Grant, adapted by Chris Grine. Scholastic Graphix, 2020. 9781338538090. 240pp.

Alien parasites, the Yeerks, are taking over the Earth. Our only hope: five kids given the power to change into animals by a dying Andalite (another alien species, this one friendly). The kids need to keep our planet safe until more Andalites arrive. One kid is freaked out, another is maybe too into his new power, and the Yeerks may have already taken over the brother of a third, turning him into a human Controller. It’s intense.

Cartoonist Chris Grine (Chickenhare, Time Shifters) is the perfect artist to adapt this series — he’s known for drawing strange animal hybrids and weird creatures. His slug-like Taxxon Controllers are repulsive, the dinosaur-ish Hork-Bajir Controllers are scary, and their evil leader, an Andalite Controller named Visser Three, is monstrous. I don’t think I ever finished one of these books as a kid or library school student, but this adaptation is incredibly readable and I’m sure it will be a hit.

 

Tags 1 Comment - Read More

Graphic Novel Review: Star Trek: Debt of Honor

Posted on September 1, 2020 at 10:16 am by

Star Trek: Debt of Honor Facsimile Edition by Chris Claremont (writer), Adam T. Hughes and Karl C. Story (artists). IDW, 2020. 98pp. Digital only at http://www.idwpublishing.com/product/star-trek-debt-of-honor-facsimile-edition/ Originally published in 1992, so you may be able to find a print copy out there, too.

If you’re a fan of a certain age, this may be the perfect escape for you, too. It’s a classic Star Trek tale starring Shatner’s Captain Kirk and crew, a follow-up to Star Trek IV (AKA the one with the whales) written by Claremont. (You may have also grown up reading his X-men comics.) It involves an incident from Kirk’s past, Alien-like alien invaders, a romance with a Romulan with 80s hair, and of course “borrowing” the newly redesigned Enterprise. Plus it features the classic Klingons instead of the ones who look like Worf, along with an explanation.

There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but the story is solid and it’s a fun, quick read if any of that sounds good to you. If it doesn’t I suggest you go watch Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan again — you’ve missed something.

Tags No Comments - Read More